Chapter 1. Regulations on the Publication of the Academic Journal
1. The name of the regular academic journal is the Korean Social Science Journal.
2. The academic journal shall be published twice a year (on June 1 and December 1).

Chapter 2. Regulations on the Criteria and Procedures of Selecting the Members of the Editorial Board and the Reviewers

1. The President of the Korean Social Science Research Council shall appoint, upon the recommendations of the Steering Consultation Committee, the members of the Editorial Board, including the Editor and the Associate Editors, from among regular members of affiliate academic societies. Those appointed shall have excellent research capability in their respective fields as well as a firm grasp of the affiliate academic society and academic trend. In addition, they shall have editorial experience of academic journals.

2. Reflecting the opinion of the Editorial Board, the Editor may appoint, in consultation with the President of the Korean Social Science Research Council, foreign scholars (including Korean scholars abroad) having excellent academic achievement, as the Co-Editor in charge of foreign affairs relating to the Journal.

3. To maintain a high level of professionalism and fairness in the process of reviewing individual articles submitted, the Editor shall select three (3) Reviewers from among the regular members of the affiliate academic societies or foreign scholars (including Korean scholars abroad) in relevant fields, or from among members of the Editorial Board itself, entrusting them with the review work in consultation with the Editorial Board members relevant in terms their respective academic fields.

Chapter 3. Regulations on the Review Criteria of Articles

1. Articles that are published in this academic journal shall have such contents that can practically contribute to various social science fields in Korea, both theoretically and methodologically.

2. This academic journal publishes original, unpublished articles that are of high quality through a procedure of individual application. In particular, articles that can connect different academic fields or compare diverse socio-cultural phenomena of Korea in a systematic way are strongly recommended.

3. This academic journal also performs the role of introducing research results in Korean social sciences to foreign scholars and policymakers around the world. For this purpose, it is the policy of this journal to permit the translation, into English, of Korean articles that have been published in other journals.

(1)The President of the Korean Social Science Research Council shall appoint, upon the recommendations of the Steering Consultation Committee, the members of the Editorial Board, including the Editor and the Associate Editors, from among regular members of affiliate academic societies. Those appointed shall have excellent research capability in their respective fields as well as a firm grasp of the affiliate academic society and academic trend. In addition, they shall have editorial experience of academic journals.

(2)However, it shall be made clear from the outset that the articles so selected are not counted as their authors’ new academic output and that these articles will be treated separately from the aforementioned unpublished articles as a matter of policy. The overall responsibility for reviewing the articles and for deciding whether they are to be published in the journal, shall rest with the Editorial Board.

4. In case there are more than one author for an article, the first author and the corresponding author each shall be labeled as such in the KSSJ article. The first author refers to the author whose contribution in terms of the thesis idea and preparation is relatively more substantial than other author(s), whereas the corresponding author refers to the author who was in charge of corresponding work during the preparation and submission of the article.

Chapter 4. Regulations on the Review Procedure

1. The Editor shall confirm three (3) candidates (possibly including some members of the Editorial Board itself) who have been recommended as reviewers by relevant members of the Editorial Board.

2. In case there is no relevant member within the Editorial Board, the Editor shall contact, in consultation with the Co-Editor(s), the president of the relevant academic society and request him or her to recommend three (3) prospective reviewers of the submitted article.

3. In principle, the reviews shall be drawn up in English.

4. Each reviewer shall give the submitted article one of the following four ratings:
‘Publish as its current form’, ‘Accept conditionally on minor changes’,
‘Encourage revision for further review’, and ‘Reject.’Each reviewer shall return, to the Editorial Board, his or her comments and/or instructions for either minor or major revision.

5. The Editorial Board shall notify the review results to the author(s) of the article, requesting to resubmit, when necessary, the revised article by a specified deadline.

6. Based on the ratings given by the three (3) reviewers the submitted article, the Editorial Board shall decide whether it will be published or not according to the following quantitative method:

(1)Points (penalty points) will be computed on the basis of the ratings as follows:’Publish as its current form’ → 0 points
‘Accept conditionally on minor changes’ → 1 point
‘Encourage revision for further review’ → 2 points
‘Reject’ → 3.5 points

(2)The reviewers’ ratings are quantified and added up to reach a decision regarding whether the article in question is to be published or not, as follows:Total grade: 0 points → Accept with no further changes
Total grade: 0 ~ 3 points → Accept later provided the author’s further minor revisions are confirmed by the Editorial Board
Total grade: Higher than 3 ~ 6.5 points → Begin a whole review process later again when the author’s major revision is resubmitted
Total grade: Higher than 6.5 ~ 10.5 points → Reject

7. An article that is judged to require ‘a whole review process later again when the author’s major revision is resubmitted’ shall undergo the 2nd-round review upon the author’s revision and resubmission in the same way as was done in the 1st-round review. When the 2nd-round review begins, the resubmitted draft is, in principle, supposed to go to the same reviewers of the 1st-round review. However, reviewers that gave either “Accept with no further changes” or “Reject” in their 1st-round review, are not normally supposed to be requested to review the resubmitted draft further, and their 1st-round review ratings are considered to remain effective in the 2nd-round review. The Editorial Board is then supposed to collect all the effective ratings upon completion of the 2nd-round review, to follow the procedures as stipulated in the Provision 6 above, and to reach a final decision regarding whether the article in question is to be published or not.

8. In case two articles are submitted simultaneously by one and the same author, the review will be carried out for each article. However, if both articles prove to be finally accepted for publication, one article will be published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal, whereas the other in the next one.

9. When necessary for editorial purposes, the Editor may carry out a final adjustment for the quantified outcomes from the 1st and the 2nd reviews in prior consultation with relevant members of the Editorial Board. On such occasions, the Editor shall report on his or her final decision to an upcoming Editorial Board meeting.

Chapter 5. Management of the Editorial Board

1. The Editor is appointed by the President of the Korean Social Science Research Council for a 2-year term.

2. The Editor may appoint the Co-Editor(s) and the Managing Editor in consultation with the President of the Korean Social Science Research Council.

3. The Editorial Board meetings are divided into regular meetings and special ones, both of which are convened by the Editor.

4. Regular Editorial Board meetings shall be convened at the end of April and at the end of October annually to reach final decisions on the publication of the forthcoming issue of the Journal. There, the Editor shall report on the progress of the reviews regarding the respective articles submitted, including who have reviewed the submitted articles, and what the results of their review have been.

5. Special Editorial Board meetings shall be convened when it is deemed necessary, not only to ensure smooth publication of the academic journal but also to establish and implement the yearly plans as well as mid- and long-term ones.

6. For a resolution of the Editorial Board, it is required that a majority of the members of the Editorial Board shall be present and a majority of those present shall vote for it. In principle, the Editorial Board shall make decisions in face-to-face meetings, but when necessary the decisions can be made by e-mail or postal method.

Supplements:

1. Regarding the matter on which interpretations can differ or when specific rules are not stipulated clearly, decisions shall be made by the Editor in consideration of the common practices governing editing and review of academic journals.

2. Revision of the Regulations requires that more than the two thirds of the members of the Editorial Committee present shall vote for it.

3. These Regulations shall become effective as of the date they are revised.

Revised on May 1, 1997;
Revised on March 1, 2000;
Revised on October 1, 2001;
Revised on June 1, 2009;
Revised on January 28, 2010;
Revised on January 21, 2011.